In the past, technology and progress was very slow. People “invented” farming 12,000 years ago but it took 8,000 years for the idea to go around the world. Then, about 3,500 years ago, people called “potters” used round wheels to turn and make plates. But it took hundreds of years before some clever person thought, if we join two wheels together and make them bigger, we can use them to move things

In the last few centuries, things have begun to move faster. Take a 20th-century invention like the aeroplane, for example. The first acroplane flight on 17 December 1903 only lasted 12 seconds, and the plane only went 37 metres. It can’t have been very exciting to watch, but that flight changed the world. Sixteen years later, the first plane flew across the Atlantic, and only fifty years after that, men walked on the moon. Technology is now changing our world faster and faster. So what will the future bring?

One of the first changes will be the materials we use. Scientists have just invented an amazing new material called graphene, and soon we will use it to do lots of things. With graphene batteries in your mobile, it will take a few seconds to charge your phone or download a thousand gigabytes of information! Today, we make most products in factories, but in the future, scientists will invent living materials. Then we won’t make things like cars and furniture in factories – we will grow them!

Thirty years ago, people couldn’t have imagined social media like Twitter and Facebook. Now we can’t live without them. But this is only the start. Right now, scientists are putting microchips in some disabled people’s brains, to help them see, hear and communicate better. In the future, we may all use these technologies. We won’t need smartphones to use social media or search the internet because the internet will be in our heads!

More people will go into space in the future, too. Space tourism has already begun, and a hundred years from now, there may be many hotels in space. One day, we may get most of our energy from space too. In 1941, the writer Isaac Asimov wrote about a solar power station in space. People laughed at his idea then, but we should have listened to him. Today, many people are trying to develop a space solar power station. After all, the sun always shines above the clouds!

Question 1: The writer says that in the past ___________.

A, people didn’t invent many things

B, people didn’t want to use wheels

C, most inventions were to do with farming

D, it took time for new ideas to change things

Question 2: Why does the writer use the example of the aeroplane?

A, To explain why transport changed in the 20th century.

B, Because he thinks It’s the most important invention in history.

C, To explain how space travel started.

D, To show how an invention developed quickly.

Question 3: What does the writer say about the future of communication?

A, We can’t know what the most popular social media will be.

B, Microchips will become faster.

C, We won’t use the internet as much.

D, We won’t need devices like smartphones.

Question 4: What does the writer say about space solar power?

A, It’s an old idea, but people are only starting to develop it now.

B, It’s a science fiction idea, and nobody really thinks it will work.

C, It’s much easier to build a solar power station in space than on Earth.

D, People tried it in 1941, but they didn’t succeed.

Question 5: The best title for the article would be ___________.

A, Man in space

B, Will computers rule the world?

C, More and more inventions

D, Progress now and then

Question

In the past, technology and progress was very slow. People “invented” farming 12,000 years ago but it took 8,000 years for the idea to go around the world. Then, about 3,500 years ago, people called “potters” used round wheels to turn and make plates. But it took hundreds of years before some clever person thought, if we join two wheels together and make them bigger, we can use them to move things

In the last few centuries, things have begun to move faster. Take a 20th-century invention like the aeroplane, for example. The first acroplane flight on 17 December 1903 only lasted 12 seconds, and the plane only went 37 metres. It can’t have been very exciting to watch, but that flight changed the world. Sixteen years later, the first plane flew across the Atlantic, and only fifty years after that, men walked on the moon. Technology is now changing our world faster and faster. So what will the future bring?

One of the first changes will be the materials we use. Scientists have just invented an amazing new material called graphene, and soon we will use it to do lots of things. With graphene batteries in your mobile, it will take a few seconds to charge your phone or download a thousand gigabytes of information! Today, we make most products in factories, but in the future, scientists will invent living materials. Then we won’t make things like cars and furniture in factories – we will grow them!

Thirty years ago, people couldn’t have imagined social media like Twitter and Facebook. Now we can’t live without them. But this is only the start. Right now, scientists are putting microchips in some disabled people’s brains, to help them see, hear and communicate better. In the future, we may all use these technologies. We won’t need smartphones to use social media or search the internet because the internet will be in our heads!

More people will go into space in the future, too. Space tourism has already begun, and a hundred years from now, there may be many hotels in space. One day, we may get most of our energy from space too. In 1941, the writer Isaac Asimov wrote about a solar power station in space. People laughed at his idea then, but we should have listened to him. Today, many people are trying to develop a space solar power station. After all, the sun always shines above the clouds!

Question 1: The writer says that in the past ___________.

A, people didn’t invent many things

B, people didn’t want to use wheels

C,  most inventions were to do with farming

D,  it took time for new ideas to change things

Question 2: Why does the writer use the example of the aeroplane?

A, To explain why transport changed in the 20th century.

B, Because he thinks It’s the most important invention in history.

C,  To explain how space travel started.

D,  To show how an invention developed quickly.

Question 3: What does the writer say about the future of communication?

A, We can’t know what the most popular social media will be.

B, Microchips will become faster.

C,  We won’t use the internet as much.

D,  We won’t need devices like smartphones.

Question 4: What does the writer say about space solar power?

A, It’s an old idea, but people are only starting to develop it now.

B, It’s a science fiction idea, and nobody really thinks it will work.

C, It’s much easier to build a solar power station in space than on Earth.

D, People tried it in 1941, but they didn’t succeed.

Question 5: The best title for the article would be ___________.

A, Man in space

B, Will computers rule the world?

C, More and more inventions

D, Progress now and then

Accepted Answer

Question 1: The writer says that in the past D, it took time for new ideas to change things

Question 2: Why does the writer use the example of the aeroplane? D, To show how an invention developed quickly.

Question 3: What does the writer say about the future of communication? D, We won’t need devices like smartphones.

Question 4: What does the writer say about space solar power? A, It’s an old idea, but people are only starting to develop it now.

Question 5: The best title for the article would be? D, Progress now and then

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